Tadej Pogacar's DS on Tour de France: "He just loves this race, and as long as it stays that way, Tadej will probably be racing in the Tour"

Andrej Hauptman, DS of UAE Team Emirates talked about Tadej Pogacar's season and relationship with the Tour de France. Alongside, he was also asked about his 2024 program, which is not decided but there are good hints already about how it will be structured.

"We already had the first meeting with the team's professional management, but it is too early to talk about what Tadej Pogačar's program will be like next year," Hauptman told RTV Slo. "We will build it to achieve its goals. The fact is that Tadej won two Tours and achieved many more stage victories. Whenever he appeared at the start, he was one of the main actors. The rider everyone raced against."

"He just loves this race, and as long as it stays that way, Tadej will probably be racing in the Tour. However, the program for 2024 is not yet known. It will be known in December when the team gets together. We will have the central training in Spain from December 12 to 22."

UAE Team Emirates are already gearing up towards the 2024 season and the Slovenian talked about how he really liked the Tour's route. He should be joined at least by both Juan Ayuso and João Almeida. There were prospects of him riding the Giro d'Italia this season however after the route reveals the reactions were quite different to both Grand Tours and the two-time winner is likely to comeback to try and get his third - combining that with the cobbled classics earlier in the spring.

"Tadej has another extremely successful season behind him. He was fantastic at the spring classics, but we have to be aware that he was seriously injured going forward," Hauptman argues, regarding his second place at the Tour de France. "To come back so quickly after an injury like that is incredible, but you pay a toll somewhere. The preparations for the Tour de France were not optimal, but that's how it is in top sport, you have to adapt."

"It is important that we did the most that was possible at the given moment. With a medal at the World Championships and a victory in Lombardy, Tadej proved that he can win all year round. He also always likes to compete for the national team and he liked this year's course at the World Championships. Because of this, he missed 14 days of rest there in between after the Tour."